ARCHIVES
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESPERSON’S NOON BRIEFING
BY MARTIN NESIRKY, SPOKESPERSON
FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
FRIDAY, 17 JUNE 2011
SECURITY COUNCIL RECOMMENDS SECOND TERM FOR BAN KI-MOON;
SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES GRATITUDE, SAYS HE WILL PUT HIMSELF FOR
CONSIDERATION BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
- The Security Council held a closed
meeting this morning concerning the term of the Secretary-General. In that
meeting, Council members approved, by acclamation, a resolution in which
the Security Council recommends to the General Assembly that Ban
Ki-moon be appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations for a second
term of office, from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016.
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- Shortly
after the Security Council’s action, the Secretary-General said from Brasilia:
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- “I am deeply honoured by the unanimous vote of the Security
Council to recommend me to the General Assembly for a second term as
Secretary-General.
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- “With this recommendation by the Security Council, I will
humbly put myself for consideration by the General Assembly.
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- “It is an immense privilege to serve this great Organization as
Secretary-General, and I am grateful for the confidence and support.
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- “During the past four and a half years, we have worked closely
with all the Member States, including the Security Council, to achieve
progress on critical global issues of peace and security, development and
human rights.
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- “I am proud of all we have done together, even as I am aware of
formidable challenges ahead.
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- “In the 21st century, the United Nations matters in a different
and deeper way.
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- “I am motivated and prepared to continue our work
together with the Member States, upholding the principles enshrined in the
Charter.”
SECRETARY-GENERAL WRAPS UP VISIT TO BRAZIL; MEETS PRESIDENT
- The Secretary-General is wrapping up his trip to Brazil,
where he met with the Ministers of Social Development and Environment
today.
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- The
Secretary-General met with
President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday. He noted that this year, President
Rousseff will be the first woman in the history of the United Nations to
open the General Assembly's annual high-level General Debate. The
Secretary-General also invited her to take a lead role at an international
meeting on nuclear safety and security that he will convene in September.
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- The Secretary-General will return to New York on Saturday morning.
U.N. MISSION IN SUDAN IS
MAINTAINING PROTECTION PERIMETER IN KADUGLI
- The
UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) continues
to maintain a ‘protection perimeter’ outside its base in Kadugli to
support the thousands of internally displaced people who have gathered
there. The peacekeeping force also
continues to provide military protection for the World Food Programme
warehouse and other key locations in Kadugli and to work with the UN
Country Team to provide food and medical assistance to the displaced.
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- Security
at the base is bolstered by the presence of a 120-person light infantry
company from Bangladesh
which was recently airlifted from Juba to
Kadugli.
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- The
UN Mission continues to engage politically at all levels to urge the party
leaders in Kadugli and Khartoum to cease hostilities, allow civilian
return, cease restrictions on the Mission’s freedom of movement, and re-engage in the
political discussions.
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- Asked
about the latest fighting, the Spokesperson said that the security and the
humanitarian situations remain of very serious concern as intermittent
fighting, artillery shelling and military build up are on during in
various locations in South
Kordofan State.
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- He
said that the United Nations condemns strongly the detention and
abuse yesterday by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Kadugli of four
peacekeepers who were on patrol to assess the situation in town.
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- The Sudanese
Armed Forces, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and other armed groups
must immediately stop intimidating and harassing UN staff, who are
critical to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance to the
vulnerable populations.
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- In
Abyei, he said, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) confirms that six shells
fired by the Sudanese Armed Forces this afternoon hit 150 meters near the UNMIS
base in Agok. There is no report of casualties.
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- The
United Nations is in the process of verifying the details, as the SAF is
claiming the shelling was part of an exercise while the SPLA is stating
that the SAF shelling was targeting SPLA positions and intimidating the
local population around Agok. It remains to be determined precisely what
happened.
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- The
Spokesperson said that both sides must stop military actions, which are not
only a threat to the UN in the area but to the local populations in the
area.
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- Asked
about the brief detention of UN and other personnel who had been
travelling on a UN Mission helicopter, the Spokesperson said that on 16
June, an UNMIS team landing in Magennes (a contested area along the Upper
Nile and Southern Kordofan border) was
briefly detained by Government of Sudan Police. The UNMIS team was
accompanied by two members of the UK
and US consulates in Juba.
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- According
to the Government of Sudan officials in the area, the flight did not have
the requisite landing permits, although UNMIS had obtained flight
clearances from the Government of South Sudan in Juba.
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- On
Thursday, Nesirky said, the entire team was released and returned to
Malakal, Upper
Nile State.
No one was harmed in the incident and the Mission is following up to determine
further details.
HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES CONTINUING WORK THROUGHOUT SUDAN
- Regarding
Abyei, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the estimated number of
people displaced as a result of the Abyei crisis is now approximately
112,800. The Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is concerned that the Appeal for Sudan is
only 43% funded at this time, with $731 million received out of the $1.7
billion sought.
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- The
World Food Programme Executive Director,
Josette Sheeran, expressed her deep concern today about the escalation in
the conflict in South Kordofan. She said
that any further escalation in the conflict may undermine the World Food
Programme’s efforts to reach the 400,000 people in the area it was feeding
before this latest outbreak of fighting.
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- The
Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kang, will begin an
eight-day mission
to Sudan next Monday.
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- During
the mission, Ms. Kang is due to visit Khartoum,
South Sudan, Darfur and the Transitional
Areas, and will meet high-ranking officials, including the Vice-President
of South Sudan, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chief Justice
of Sudan. In Darfur, she will visit
several camps for the internally displaced and places of detention.
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- The
Deputy High Commissioner will use the opportunity to raise key issues and
lend her support to human rights defenders.
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME HAS DELIVERED FOOD TO HALF A MILLION PEOPLE IN LIBYA
- The World Food Programme (WFP) says it has delivered vital
food assistance to more than half a million people affected by the
conflict in Libya.
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- So far,
distributions have been made to more than 270,000 people in eastern Libya, 136,000 people in western Libya (mainly in the Nafusa
Mountain area), and an additional
125,000 people in the city of Misrata.
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- Since the
beginning of April, the World Food Programme has sent 1,600 metric tons of
food assistance to the people of Misrata, enough to feed 125,000 people
for a month. Another 2,000 metric tons of aid is on the way.
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- Meanwhile,
almost 650,000 people have left Libya and not returned. The UN Refugee Agency estimates
that there are 243,000 internally displaced people in Libya.
CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS WRAP UP IN BONN
- Today
is the final day of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany.
Christiana Figueres, the UN’s climate change chief, said
that the negotiations had made clear advances on key issues and had
identified areas that will require high-level political leadership ahead
of the conference in Durban,
South Africa.
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- She
noted the link between negotiations on mitigation under the UN Climate
Change Convention and mitigation under the Kyoto Protocol. Ms. Figueres
said, “Governments are realising that this link needs to be dealt with to
get to a global solution, and that will require high-level leadership
during the year.”
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
SECRETARY-GENERAL TO
MEET WITH U.S. MAYORS IN BALTIMORE: The Secretary-General will travel to Baltimore on Sunday, 19
June, to address the Annual Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The
Secretary-General will take this opportunity to present United Nations
priorities and discuss how the UN and local leaders can work together,
particularly to advance the sustainable economic recovery and climate change
agendas.
SECRETARY-GENERAL
ENCOURAGING AID TO GO INTO GAZA THROUGH PROPER
CHANNELS: Asked about Israeli concerns about an aid flotilla going to Gaza, the Spokesperson
said that the Secretary-General has written to leaders in the region, asking
them to do what they can to avoid adding to tensions in the region and
encouraging all parties to use established aid channels. He has also been
working with Israel to ease
the closures of borders into Gaza.
SECRETARY-GENERAL
URGES SYRIAN PRESIDENT TO LISTEN TO PEOPLE’S WISHES: Asked about Syria, the
Spokesperson noted that the Secretary-General said in Brazil on
Thursday that that he has strongly urged President Bashar al-Assad to listen to
the wishes and aspirations of their people and he should take utmost care to
protect human lives. He said that it is totally unacceptable that many
civilians, peacefully demonstrating to have their genuine wishes for greater
freedom and democracy heard, have been killed and wounded.
THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS
18 JUNE / 24 JUNE 2011
Saturday, 18 June
There are no major events scheduled for today.
Sunday, 19 June
There are no major events scheduled for today.
Monday, 20 June
This morning, the Security Council will be briefed on Sudan, followed by consultations on Sudan
and on the Sudan Sanctions Committee.
At 11:00 a.m., in the Dag
Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference on the
human and economic case to urgently address non-communicable diseases
(NCDs).Speakers will include: H.E. Rodney Charles, Permanent Representative of
Trinidad and Tobago to the United Nations; David Bloom, Clarence James Gamble
Professor of Economics & Demography, Harvard School of Public Health; John
Seffrin, CEO, American Cancer Society; Cary Adams, CEO, Union for International
Cancer Control. The moderator will be: Ms. Margaret Novicki, Chief,
Communications Campaigns Service, Department of Public Information.
At 12:00 p.m., in the Dag
Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative
of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, will be the guest at
the Noon Briefing.
Today is World Refugee Day.
Tuesday, 21 June
This morning, the Security Council will be briefed on Somalia
and piracy. It will also be briefed by the United Nations Office to African
Union (UNOAU.)
Today, the launch of the "Sustainable Sanitation: 5
Year Drive to 2015" event will tale place. The event will be attended by
the UN Secretary-General, the Prince of Orange, UNICEF Executive Director and
Ugandan Minister of Water.
Wednesday, 22 June
This morning, the Security Council will hold consultations
on Iraq and Kuwait,
followed by consultations on the Working Group on Peace Keeping Operations.
Thursday, 23 June
This morning, the Security Council will be briefed on the
Middle East, followed by consultations on the Middle East
and on United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF.)
In the afternoon, the Security Council will be briefed on
the 1737 Committee, followed by consultations on the Liberia Sanctions
Committee.
At 10:00 a.m.,
in Conference Room 4 of the North Lawn Building (NLB), the launch of the World
Drug Report 2011 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on
the global production, trafficking and consumption of illicit drugs will take
place in the presence of the President of the General Assembly and the
Secretary-General.
At 12:00 p.m., in the Dag
Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will be the guest at the Noon
Briefing.
Today is the United Nations Public Service Day.
Today is the International Widow’s Day. It is the first year
this day is observed.
Friday, 24 June
This morning, the Security Council will be briefed by United
Nations Office for Drug and Crime (UNODC.)
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, SA-1B15
New York, NY
10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
